Hempel is taking part in a project to performance test an offshore corrosion protection system on WindFloat, a semi-submersible floating structure for offshore wind turbines that has been deployed with a 2MW Vestas turbine off the coast of Agucadoura, Portugal.

The sections of the WindFloat foundation for which Hempel is providing the test products are the permanently immersed areas, the splash zone and the above-water line areas. In addition to supplying coating systems, Hempel is also contributing to the project with technical support and advice.

The project is being carried out by the Materials and Coatings Laboratory (LMR) of LNEG (National Laboratory for Energy and Geology) in Portugal with the overall aim of testing and evaluating different corrosion protection systems for offshore steel structures. The performance of the anticorrosive coatings will be evaluated by exposure at the Agucadoura test site for a two-year period.

The WindFloat project is part of WindPlus, a joint venture headed by Energias de Portugal (EDP) with partners including Principle Power Inc (the developer of WindFloat) and Vestas, which has supplied the V80-2.0 MW wind turbine for the project.

The first WindFloat was successfully deployed off the coast of Agucadoura, Portugal, in December 2011. It is the first offshore wind deployment requiring no heavy lift equipment offshore. All assembly, installation and pre-commissioning of the wind turbine took place on land.